MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti). Alexei Golubovich, former Yukos director for strategic planning and corporate finance, said Yukos officials wanted in their homeland would either be extradited to Russia or tried in the countries of their residence.
"The real fight is on against those who know that they will be eventually extradited to Russia for [allegedly] committing serious crimes, which should be analyzed not by tax inspectors but by homicide squads," Golubovich told Izvestia in an interview about his experiences with the oil company published Monday.
"The country of their residence will have to answer for [giving shelter to them] because British and Israeli people do not need people who order contract murders," the ex-manager said.
Golubovich said the Yukos case was "like the Enron case," which means that civil suits could be filed against the company's management.
"In the United States, the Yukos managers and those who stand behind related crimes would be the first to be put on trial, so as to get the last cent from them in favor of the victims of their crimes. In my opinion, the same scenario might be used against the former managers and owners of Yukos," he said.
The ex-manager said the company profited by using loopholes in tax legislation. "Foreign shareholders were sent reports on huge profits, whereas in Russia the money was distributed among the local offshore regions of Mordovia and Kalmykia," he said.
But foreign shareholders also sustained losses from the use of these tax avoidance schemes, Golubovich said. "At first the scheme swelled capitalization and showed huge profits," he said. "But it turned out later that the profits were imaginary and would be cut to zero after the payment of penalties. As a result, foreigners suffered too. The state at least holds the assets, while the shareholders have nothing."
He said the Yukos managers failed to pay due attention to investment. "Investment in production grew substantially after the 1998 crisis, but mostly not through the use of low-rate fields," the ex-manager told the paper.
"Nobody intended to invest in refining. It appears that a ban was placed on any discussion of plans five years ahead. [Viktor] Tarkhov, who had been responsible for refining in Yukos before privatization, was not fired for disloyalty. He was sacked for persistent advocacy of investment in refining. And his team was also fired to preclude discussion of the issue," Golubovich said.
According to the ex-manager, the Yukos top management considered different variants and devised an insurance policy for themselves. In May 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former owner and head of the oil company, set aside $20 million from the Gibraltar division of Menatep for financing the education of Russian students in "respected British universities."
"I have not heard about anyone who used these grants," he said. "But it was a fine gesture. When somebody asked if the money would go directly to the students, Khodorkovsky replied: ‘We are not giving them the money but the interest on it. The money belongs to us and it cannot be used without us. Let the money be stored in this fund, just in case. Suppose Menatep is recognized a criminal organization not only in Russia but also in other countries?"
"The logic was simple: my money abroad is not politics; I have earned it. And so they donned jackets and said, I am a political refugee, an honest businessman," Golubovich said. "But I think this will be their undoing."
The ex-manager of the bankrupt oil company Yukos is under house arrest in Italy. He was detained on an international Interpol warrant issued at the request of Russia's Office of Prosecutor General in May when he was preparing to leave for Britain, where he has lived since 2003.
Golubovich is charged with grand fraud and refusal to comply with court rulings.
According to investigators, the damage done to the state by the actions of Golubovich as part of a criminal group is valued at more than $283 million. In late 2004, an arrest warrant was issued for him and he was put on the federal wanted list.
Golubovich told RIA Novosti's office in Rome in an e-mail interview that he had done nothing illegal and hoped to return to Russia. -0-
